Stratford's Community Energy Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
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2017 Stratford’s Community Energy Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Stratford’s Third Milestone of the Partners for Climate Protection Program STRATFORD COMMUNITY ENERGY PLAN Please cite this document as follows: Stratford’s Community Energy Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Stratford Sustainability Committee. Town of Stratford. 2017. Acknowledgements Under the guidance of Town Council, Stratford’s Sustainability Committee along with the CAO’s Office supervised the development of the plan with the active involvement of the Advisory Committee, Steering Committee, various stakeholders and town staff. Work Team Members (Sustainability Committee): 1. David Dunphy: Mayor of the Town of Stratford. 2. Jody Jackson: Chair of the Sustainability Committee and Town Councilor. 3. Keith Maclean: Town Councilor. 4. Robert Hughes: CAO of the Town of Stratford. 5. Ben Grieder: Stratford Community Energy Plan Coordinator. 6. Jill Burridge: Resident of Stratford. 7. Rosemary Curley: Resident of Stratford. 8. Andrew Davies: Resident of Stratford. 9. Joel Ives: Resident of Stratford. 10. Chris Jones: Resident of Stratford. 11. Aaron MacDougall: Resident of Stratford. Financial Support We could not have completed this community energy plan (CEP) without funding from various government, utility and non-profit organizations. Funding organizations went above and beyond the original financial support requested of them. The Town of Stratford would like to acknowledge the support of those organizations: Organization Funding (Canadian Dollars) Federation of Canadian Municipalities-Green $30,000 Municipal Fund Maritime Electric $1,500 with additional In-kind support PEI Energy Corporation $5,000 with additional In-kind support PEI Office of Energy Efficiency $5,000 with additional In-kind support Stratford Area Watershed Improvement Group $3,000 of In-kind support Town of Stratford $10,000 with an additional $5,000 of In-kind support Public & Stakeholder Engagement Over 500 local citizens contributed ideas and feedback to this Plan. The Town of Stratford would like to thank every resident for contributing and invites everyone to continue providing feedback as this plan is implemented. More information about the Stratford Community Energy Plan can be found on the Town of Stratford website: www.townofstratford.ca 1 STRATFORD COMMUNITY ENERGY PLAN Executive Summary Overview: A Community Energy Plan (CEP) often encompasses energy use, transportation planning, land use, sewage and water management as well as waste management. Community Energy Plans are meant to be used as “living documents” with extensive community stakeholder meetings and collaboration with local business leaders, academic professionals and government officials. This document will help start a local conversation on integrated community energy systems, which will make the Town of Stratford more resilient. Community Energy Plans create short and long-term goals that make positive sustainable change for all residents. This plan will include specific tasks to be completed by municipal departments, and an implementation plan. The Town of Stratford is a progressive community that has a high potential for creating and sustaining the Community Energy Plan. Sustainability is already integrated in many town planning procedures but there is always room to improve procedures and protocols. There are many groups within the town that can support this project as it progresses through its five phases of development including the Stratford Area Watershed Improvement Group and the Stratford Sustainability Committee. Our Vision: “Stratford’s Community Energy Plan envisions a sustainable community that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption through active transportation, education, energy conservation and efficiency, and renewable energy.” Our goals to meet the above Vision, we will: 1. Increase capacity to lower greenhouse gas emissions across the entire community. 2. Promote energy efficiency among Stratford residents and reduce electricity consumption. 3. Promote energy efficiency and energy conservation among Stratford businesses. 4. Promote energy efficiency and conservation among all development and construction companies working within Stratford. 5. Promote renewable energy and among Stratford residents and businesses. 6. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions being produced by all municipal operations and buildings. The Process: The Community Energy Plan process outlined by the Partners for Climate Protection Program includes: □ Milestone 1: Create Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Baseline Inventory; o This milestone was completed and submitted to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in January, 2017. □ Milestone 2: Create and formally adopt GHG Emission Reduction Targets; o This milestone was unanimously adopted by the Stratford Town council on April 12, 2017. □ Milestone 3: Create and formally adopt local action plan (Community Energy Plan); o This milestone will be adopted by Town Council on September 13, 2017. □ Milestone 4: Create, adopt and carry out implementation plan for Community Energy Plan; 2 STRATFORD COMMUNITY ENERGY PLAN o This milestone will recognize the progress made by the Town of Stratford in implementing the Community Energy Plan’s Recommended Actions. □ Milestone 5: Monitor progress of local action plan by updating the emission inventory every 3-5 years and monitoring success of the actions taken thus far; o The next planned emission inventory will be in 2021 for the Town of Stratford. Stratford’s Municipal GHG Emission Inventory revealed that in 2015 there was 946 Tonnes of CO2E produced by all municipal infrastructure and operations. The two largest categories of emissions were Water & Sewage and Buildings. The energy source that produced the most GHG emissions was electricity. Stratford’s Community GHG Emission Inventory revealed that in 2015 there were 83,192 Tonnes of CO2E produced by all sectors of the community. The three largest categories of emissions were Residential, Commercial/Institutional and Transportation. The energy source that produced the most GHG emissions was electricity. Background data were collected from multiple forms of resources. Electricity data were provided by Maritime Electric Incorporated. Home heating data and transportation data were provided by Statistics Canada. Demographic data were gathered from Statistics Canada as well as the Town of Stratford’s Planning, Development, and Heritage Department. Research was conducted by the Community Energy Plan Coordinator to find the most cost-effective ways to reduce GHG emissions for the municipal government and the community of Stratford. Four possible reduction targets were created, almost every target aligning with pre-existing provincial, regional and national strategies. A reduction target calculator tool was used to decide on the most practical reduction target for the municipal government and the community of Stratford (Image A7.). After four months of discussions, and research with various committees and residents, the Town of Stratford chose a reduction target that is generally recommended by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). Stratford Town Council voted to adopt the Target of 20% for the Municipality and 6% for the Community below 2015 levels by 2026, with the condition that a review of the targets will occur in 2022 or earlier to increase or decrease the targets accordingly. In 2022, a GHG Inventory will need to be created for the year of 2021 to assess whether the reduction targets for the Municipality and Community have been reached. In other municipalities across Canada that have developed CEP’s, the period of time in which a CEP is developed is often two or more years; this CEP was developed and is scheduled to be adopted in less than 1.5 years. The reason for this fast and efficient CEP drafting and implementation was due to the excellent leadership provided by the CEP Steering Committee’s Chair, Mayor David Dunphy and the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Stratford, Robert Hughes. Implementation: The implementation of this Community Energy Plan has been spread out over a ten year period with various departments and community groups being appointed different tasks. There are six goals, 16 objectives and 48 actions that should be implemented in order for Stratford to reach its reduction targets (Figure C1.). Most of the recommended actions should not be implemented exactly as written but rather each action should adapt as time passes on to changing circumstances (Figure D1). 3 STRATFORD COMMUNITY ENERGY PLAN ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................................... 1 FINANCIAL SUPPORT ....................................................................................................................................................... 1 PUBLIC & STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT .............................................................................................................................. 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................... 2 ABBREVIATIONS AND DEFINITIONS ....................................................................................................................... 7 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................................................................